The Best New Stuff Dropping On Netflix And Amazon In August

The World Cup, Wimbledon and - let's face it Love Island - allending has left a void in your evenings. So you as well recommit to that dent in your sofa, and enjoy the great new stuff being added to Netflix and Amazon this month.

Netflix

Better Call Saul Season 4 (7 August)

Rumours of a Breaking Bad reunion 10 years on persist. While there's no confirmation of that, the next best thing is the return of its spin-off show. The answer to whether Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill's brother Chuck survived the fire in his house is swiftly answered in episode one, while the repercussions push Jimmy towards the criminal world of his alter-ego Saul and further away from his partner Kim.

Despite not even airing yet Netflix's new series has caused plenty of controversial, with claims of 'fat-shaming' resulting in a 200,000 strong petition calling for its cancellation. Critics who haven't seen the show seemed to have, as the Guardian pointed out, "confused the subject of a joke with its target". Creator, and long-serving Dexter writer, Lauren Gussis, has defended Insatiable - in which a disgraced lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach takes on a bullied teenager - saying: "The show is a cautionary tale about how damaging it can be to believe that outsides are more important – to judge without going deeper". It'll certainly be the talk of the office kitchen at the least.

Twitter was briefly a joyful place when it was announced Simpsons' creator Matt Groening was making a new animated series for Netflix. Simpsons and Futurama writer and show-runner Josh Weinstein is also onboard to tell the story of a near-alcoholic princess called Bean (voiced by Broad City's Abbi Jacobson), her elf 'Elfo' and personal demon named Luci as they explore the dishevelled (and seemingly) misnamed Dreamland.

The Innocents (24 August)

The romantic story of teen lovers Harry and June running away from their families twists into a supernatural horror when the pair discover June's has the power to shape shift. As with many supernatural series, there's a mysterious doctor (played by Guy Pearce) who reveals there are other shape shifters out there and promises to reunite her with her mother. The themes and characters seem to take some inspiration from Netflix hit Stranger Things though interestingly, this is a British drama.

The first season of crime drama Ozark received widely positive reviews and several award nominations and wins for Jason Bateman and Laura Linney's performances. The follow-up sees the Marty Byrde's family's debts to the drug cartel continue to govern their lives as they become further entangled thanks to the gang's new attorney who has it in for them. A show where the acting pedigree and writing quality continue to grow and prove this isn't just a Breaking Bad copycat.

Amazon

Casual Season 4 (1 August)

Home assistants, dysfunctional families and VR make up the background of this exploration of modern life. In the series, divorced psychologist Valerie lives with her brother, the eternally single dating app creator Alex, and they raise her daughter together. Fans of Modern Family, Master of None and Transparent will approve.

Rage, inspiration and humour are all on the menu in this new fly-on-the-wall series charting Manchester City's extraordinary 2017/18 season which saw them break the Premier League's unbeaten run record. Highlights include John Stones throwing something on the floor in anger and Pep emotionally insisting, "I will defend you until the last day of our lives in the press conferences, but here I am going to tell you the truth." There's also a nice team rendition of 'Wonderwall'.

Dominic Cooper excels as the villainous Jesse Custer, a preacher from Texas who can command people to do as he wishes in this violent comic book adaptation. He teams up with an Irish vampire (Joseph Gilgun) and his assassin ex-girlfriend (Ruth Negga) in a series co-produced by Seth Rogen and with Breaking Bad’s Sam Catlin as show-runner. Which all sounds like a lot of fun.

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